Tales of Hogwarts: Rose's Story
by Annabec
Summary: I wanted to be in Gryffindor. But unfortunately, life doesn't work that way for me. Because the Sorting Hat's an idiot. Honestly, it's been sitting on that shelf, and it's gone barmy. It put me in Slytherin. So now I'm stuck.
1. The Mental Hat

**A/N: I certainly have been updating quite a bit lately! Here's a new story, companion to Tales of Hogwarts: Megan's story. The links to the character appearances are on my profile. Let the Slytherin Games begin!**

_**OC Characters**_

_**Name: Annarose Malfoy**_

_**House: Slytherin**_

_**Wand: 10 ¾ inches, poplar, veela hair**_

_**Name: James Lee**_

_**House: Slytherin**_

_**Wand: 8 inches, larch, chimaera hair**_

_**Name: Jesse Lundy**_

_**House: Slytherin**_

_**Wand: 10 inches, ash, diricrawl feather**_

_**Name: Juliet Hansen**_

_**House: Slytherin**_

_**Wand: 11 inches, hazel, phoenix feather**_

_**Name: Lily Kennedy**_

_**House: Slytherin**_

_**Wand: 10 ¾ inches, hawthorn, puffskein fur**_

_**Name: Megan Abbott**_

_**House: Gryffindor**_

_**Wand: 11 inches, maple, unicorn tail hair**_

_**Name: Cathryn Lestrange**_

_**House: Slytherin**_

_**Wand: 9 inches, ebony, pogrebin hair**_

_**Name: Sidro Yaxley**_

_**House: Slytherin**_

_**Wand: 10 inches, oak, phoenix feather**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, only the OCs.**

You have got to be kidding me. I didn't spend my whole life contradicting my whole family just for this to happen. My parents were bloody thrilled. My brother was appalled. For once in all our eleven years, I agreed with him. This is possibly the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Worse then the time when I met my Aunt Bellatrix, Uncle Rodolphus, and Cousin Cathryn, or Katie. Worse then when I'd heard about deaths caused by a thing named Lord Voldemort and his followers that were called Death Eaters. I refused to call Muggle-Borns Mudbloods after I'd heard my aunt and uncle discussing them with my cousin. It was even worse then the time I walked in on our house-elf punishing himself for my brother's amusement. In order to tell the story properly, though, I need to start at the beginning. 7:30 am, Malfoy Manor.

"Cassie," a voice singsonged in my ear. I groaned, and tried to swat it. "Now, now, none of that," came the dulcet tones of my brother's voice. Not. Stupid git. His tones couldn't be dulcet if they wrapped themselves in chocolate and sang lullabies.

"Go away," I moaned, putting my pillow over my head. Draco gave and exasperated sigh. Before I knew what was happening, he dragged the blankets off of me. All the way to the floor. Bad idea. I jumped out of bed, my brand new wand pointed directly at his chest. "Leave. Now." I made sure that I enunciated each syllable, putting a threatening edge to my voice. Draco backed away slowly, hands above his head in a gesture of surrender.

"You should be a Gryffindor, Cassie. God." He flung the words over his shoulder as he left my room. I think that they were supposed to be an insult, but they filled me with warmth, a new hope. I scarcely dared to imagine what it would be like. A house filled with muggle borns and blood traitors. People who wanted elf rights, not death to all muggles. A house that could help me to shake my family's legacy and make a name for myself. A house that would approve if I dated a muggle born or a blood traitor. Gryffindor was sounding better and better by each passing second.

I don't know how long I stood there, contemplating this. Five minutes? Ten? Time was something I needed, but I also didn't have much of it. See, Mum was calling me to breakfast already. Drat. I scrambled into a pale gold skirt and a red t-shirt. They made my cheeks bloom and my eyes grayer then ever. Mum wouldn't be pleased with my choices, but what could she do? Nothing. Nothing at all.

"Annarose Cassiopeia Malfoy! If you're not down here in one minute…." She didn't need to finish her sentence. I knew what she'd say. I raced out of my bedroom and down the hall. Down three flights of stairs, two corridors, and through the doorway to the dining room. Our family ate all of our meals here, although I would've been much happier eating in the kitchen. Mum had ordered me to eat in there a few weeks back, thinking that it was a punishment. Foolish woman. Stupid, stupid woman. She knew nothing. I decided to keep her that way. It made life much more interesting.

I finally arrived at my seat at the long table, breathless and flushed from running. Mother glanced up at the clock, lips pursed.

"Ten seconds to spare," she said disapprovingly. I only shrugged and sat down in my seat, preparing myself for twenty minutes of silence. Surprisingly, my mother turned to Draco and asked him a question in a sickly sweet, simpering voice.

"Are you excited for Hogwarts, sweetling?" I nearly choked on a bite of bacon. I mean, honestly, sweetling? Ridiculous.

"Of course, Mum," Draco replied innocently, like a porcelain angel. Oh, he makes me want to hex that smirk right off of his face! Of course, I don't know magic yet, but that's just a minor complication. Conceited little berk. I bet that if I hit him his face would crack. Pig. Ferret. Actually, I like that last one. Describes the arrogant little weasel perfectly.

"Annarose," my mother said, apparently having decided to pick on me now. She had an expectant look on her face. I plastered an angelic expression on my own.

"Could you repeat that?" I asked sweetly. Mother gave an exasperated sigh.

"Are you finished packing?" she snapped. I nodded.

"Nearly." Mother scowled, then pointed at the stairs. I shoved my chair back and exited the dining hall, fuming. How dare she! I've been planning this day, my escape from this hellhole for months! I can't believe she had the nerve to treat me like I was some sort of house elf. Oh, well. At least Dad likes me.

I reached my room and slammed the door behind me so hard that the room shook. On my bed was my wand, right where I'd left it after threatening Draco earlier. I walked over and picked it up, running my fingers along the smooth poplar surface. My wand was 10 ¾ inches, with poplar wood and a core of veela hair. Ollivander had told me that poplar was the wood of the royals. My poor brother, and his hawthorn wand, and his family magic. Not.

I made a quick survey of my room, making sure that I left nothing behind that Mother would rummage through. Clothes? Check. Books? Check. My photo? Not yet. I crossed the room and picked up the photo from where it stood on my nightstand. This photo went everywhere with me. In it, I was perched on a branch of a willow tree. Next to and behind me was a pair of red headed, freckle-faced twins. They were identical, except for their eyes. The one behind me had blue eyes, and the one next to me that looked like he was trying to push me off the branch had brown eyes. I remembered that they were a couple of years older than me. They would be thirteen this year, probably, seeing as I was eleven, and had been since the beginning of July. I bet they'll be at Hogwarts this year. I hoped so.

"Annarose!" my mother yelled. "We're leaving!" Wow, she doesn't waste any time, does she? I carefully placed my picture in my trunk, and closed the lid. Then I grabbed it in one hand and my wand in my other hand. Before I could leave my room, Kinky the house elf apparated in.

"Mistress says I have to take Miss Rose's trunk, so I do," she squeaked. I handed it over reluctantly.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" I asked concernedly. Kinky smiled, snapped her fingers, and both she and the trunk disappeared with a crack. I opened my door and walked downstairs clutching my wand, wishing that Kinky would've taken me with her. As it was, I was going to be late, and Mother was going to be furious.

"Annarose!" She scolded shrilly when I reached the front entrance. I bowed my head, my straight blond hair falling in my face to hide my twinkling gray eyes. I'd just get in more trouble if my mother saw me laughing.

"I apologize, Mother," I murmured. "I will do better next time."

"See that you do," she snapped. Then she turned and walked out the door, Draco and I following obediently. We stopped about ten yards from the house. Next to us was a big tree, at least twenty feet high, and about five feet in diameter. Kinky and our other House Elf Dobby stood in front of it, looking tiny in comparison. "Take the twins to King's Cross," Mother ordered the elves in a tone that was not to be disobeyed. Draco looked as surprised as I didn't feel.

"You mean you're not coming with us?" He asked in a tiny voice.

"No," Mother said softly. This day just kept getting better and better. Mother stooped, gave us each a kiss on the forehead, and walked back to the house without a backwards glance. Good riddance. I turned back to our house elves.

"Lets go." Dobby took Draco's hand, and Kinky took mine. They each stood on a trunk, snapped their fingers, and disapparated. We landed on the platform safely. I clenched my teeth, trying and succeeding not to vomit. Draco wasn't so lucky. Dobby snapped his fingers, and our luggage vanished, onto the train, I think. The next thing I knew, Kinky had taken my hand again. I looked down at her, and her tennis ball like eyes were brimming with tears.

"If Miss needs Kinky at Hogwarts," she said softly. "All Miss needs to do is ask." The simple gesture brought tears to my own eyes, and I squeezed her hand.

"I will, Kinky," I promised. She smiled, let go of my hand, and disappeared with Dobby. "Come on, Draco," I said in a choked voice. "Let's board the train." Draco took one look at me, and then ran off. I stood there, not quite sure what to do.

"Did your man desert you at the altar?" came a somewhat familiar voice from behind me. I whirled around in surprise. Two red headed boys were standing there. They were identical, except for their eyes. One had dark brown eyes that looked like melted chocolate. The other had beautiful dark blue eyes that sparkled like a lake in the afternoon sun. I gulped. _They were identical, except for their eyes. _Sure, and didn't I remember thinking those very words this morning while looking at my picture.

"No," I said, finally finding my voice. "But my brother ditched me on this platform, so…" I trailed off, rolling my eyes with the practiced ease of a professional. The twins exchanged glances.

"Follow us," they said, perfectly in unison. Did they count down so that they'd speak at the same time, or did they have some sort of glitch in their brain, a mental connection of some sort? I nodded in agreement, and made to follow them, but then the brown-eyed twin asked a question that made my throat close.

"Where are your parents?" He asked. My eyes started filling.

"They're-" the other twin shook his head, interrupting me.

"Have you lost your pathetic mind, Forge?" He inquired in an innocent tone. Then he turned to me and said, "You don't have to answer Billy No Mates over here if you don't want to.

"I know that," I retorted. "If I didn't want to answer him, would I still be here talking to you?"

"Yes," The blue-eyed twin shot back. "Because I'm the good looking twin." We broke into peals of laughter that subsided after a few moments. The brown-eyed twin looked at me expectantly. I took a deep breath.

"My parents didn't come," I confessed. The twin's eyes grew wide, but they held their tongues. "Dad had work, and Mum…" My voice trailed off again, my tears threatening to overflow. The blue-eyed twin gave me an awkward one-armed hug and punched his twin with his free hand.

"And that is why we don't ask personal questions on the first meeting," he admonished. Then, taking a look at my face, he added, "We save them 'til the third or fourth. Fifth, even. Come on, you can sit with us." I gave him a shaky smile. He seemed to be waiting for a response. I then threw my arms around him. He acted somewhat surprised, but then hugged me back. It felt foreign and strange. No one had ever let me hug them before, or hugged me. I pulled back uneasily.

"I- I'm sorry," I stammered. He looked puzzled.

"What for? Hugging me?" when I nodded, he just grinned. "C'mon, amateur," he said, taking my hand easily. "Let's go find a compartment before the train leaves without us." His twin offered me his arm.

"Allow me to escort you, my lady," he said faux-gallantly. I put a hand on his arm, keeping the other in the first twin's hand. Then they led me onto the scarlet engine.

I followed the twins down the length of the train to a compartment at the very back. The first twin slid open the door and ushered me inside.

"By the way," he said, blue eyes twinkling. "The name's Fred. Third year, Gryffindor." He didn't offer a last name. The other twin followed us into the compartment, frowning.

"But I thought that _I_ was Fred today," he complained. Fred gave a patient sigh, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You are Fred on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays," he reminded his twin. The other boy nodded.

"You're right," he agreed. "But you're George tomorrow, correct?" Fred nodded.

"Right you are, Georgiekins."

"I'm George," George said suddenly, turning to me. "But I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it," I retorted. "But I'm Annarose Malfoy, First Year." Both twins stared at me. I clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Blimey," whispered Fred in an awestruck voice. "After all these years." My hand flew to my neck. In addition to the picture in my trunk, I had one more relic from my past friendship. A locket was fastened around my neck. It was tarnished, the original gold paint wearing off, but you could still read the initials that had been emblazoned on it. AFG. Inside were two pictures. On one side was a picture of seven-year-old me holding my very first real broomstick. On the other side was a picture of a pair of ten-year-old twins. Twins that I hadn't seen since I moved to my current house. The day I left, they came over to my house. They gave me the locket, and made me promise to never take it off. I've never taken it off since. Not once. I looked up to see Fred and George talking amongst themselves in low tones. I raised an eyebrow at them, and George pulled and exploding snap deck out of his pocket. Dangerous place to keep it, if you think about it.

"C'mon," he said quickly. "Let's play." And we did. We'd played seven games, me winning five of them, and were in the middle of our eighth when the door opened. A sandy haired boy stood there, probably a lost first year. I gave him a little wave, and he blushed furiously.

"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together," he blurted out, blushing even harder. Cheesy pick up lines make me sick. Whatever house I'm in, he better hope he's not in it, or I'm going to make his life hell. I smiled sweetly at him.

"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put F and U together," I told him. Ah, but I do love a good comeback. That one was a little old, but to be fair, so was his line. The poor boy stuttered and apology and ran off. I turned back to the game, feeling slightly guilty. Fred and George were snickering.

"What?" I asked, glancing up. They were positively giggling by now.

"The look on that bloke's face!" Fred cackled. I cracked a small grin. Maybe it _had_ been a little funny. Then the cards exploded in George's face making Fred and I howl with laughter.

The train jerked to a stop. All three of us were flung on top of one another. I blushed when I saw that I had fallen on top of Fred. He just smiled and helped me to my feet.

"Come on," George said, opening the door. "You have to go up in the boats. We'll see you later, yeah?" I nodded, waving to the twins as the crowd swallowed them up. A big hairy man was calling from farther down the platform.

"Firs' years! Righ' this way!" I made my way over to him.

"Hi," I said, my voice quavering embarrassingly.

"Well, hello there! Wha's your name? Mine's Hagrid," the man said in a vaguely familiar accent.

"I'm Annarose. Annarose Malfoy." Hagrid grinned broadly.

"Oh, so yer the little girl that yer family shut an' locked up in a close'." I smiled weakly.

"That sounds about right." Hagrid pointed to the little boats that dotted the lakeshore.

"Yer gonna ride up in these," He told me. I smiled and waved to him, the climbed into the boat nearest to me. A pretty girl with curly brown hair and brown eyes soon joined me. She gave me a shy smile. I returned it. We passed most of the ride in silence. The first time either of us spoke was when we caught our first glimpse of Hogwarts.

"Wow," I gasped. She nodded. We passed the short remainder of the ride in total silence. Before long, our boat bumped into a dock at the other side of the lake. I climbed out of our boat, closely followed by the dark haired girl. We followed the others into the Entrance Hall, where a witch named Professor McGonagall made a long speech. After that ordeal, she led us into the Great Hall. She began to call us up to a stool to try on the Sorting Hat in alphabetical order. First, there was a pair of twins, the Abbotts. One went to Gryffindor, the other to Hufflepuff, living proof that twins don't always end up in the same house. Later, I found out that the girl I'd met was named Juliet Hansen. She was sorted into Slytherin, and looked furious about it. It was evident that she had wanted to be anywhere but there. Several more people were sorted into Slytherin, but only three of them stood out. The first was a fragile looking girl named Lily Kennedy with unforgettable dark red hair and big green eyes. Next came James Lee, a tall boy with broad shoulders, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. Last was Jesse Lundy, who was almost identical to James except for his hair, which was much lighter. My name was called right after Jesse.

"Malfoy, Annarose!" I clenched my fists as I walked up to the stool, willing myself not to get sick in front of everyone. I sat down on the stool and put the hat on. It was far too big, and slipped down over my eyes. I stared at the dark interior of the hat.

"Hm," said a little voice in my head. "A Malfoy? One that wants to be in Gryffindor?" The rest passed as a blur. All I remember is that I sat up there far longer then anyone else, arguing with the bloody hat. It wore me down eventually and I gave in.

"Fine," I thought. "See if I care."

"Slytherin!" The thing yelled triumphantly. I yanked it off and slapped it down on the stool. Then I began to walk over to the Slytherin table, my back ramrod straight and my head high, just like Mother had taught me. I hadn't even reached the table before Draco caught up with me. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to a secluded spot at the farthest end of the table.

"What went wrong?" he hissed once we were seated.

"I don't know," I whispered back. "The bloody hat told me to make a difference in my house, then screamed Slytherin." I then proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the meal.

"First years, follow me," a prefect ordered once we were finished eating. All of us ickle, insignificant firsties stood up and followed the blighter out of the Great Hall.

"Hey," whispered a voice at my shoulder. I turned, and saw Lily Kennedy standing there. Behind her were Juliet Hansen, James Lee, and Jesse Lundy. They all waved shyly at me. I waved back, equally as shyly. "You must be Draco Malfoy's sister," Lily said excitedly. I could see Jesse Lundy looking disgruntled.

"Yes," I said carefully. I'd learned at a young age to be careful when talking about my family, because people would either want to meet them or kill them. Jesse's frown grew deeper when he heard my response. Lily didn't seem to notice.

"Can I meet him?" she asked, smiling brightly. Oh, so she's the meeting type. The kind that meets my family and never wants to leave. Jesse glared at me, as if daring me to say yes.


	2. Stupid Git

**A/N: Ok, so a bit of a wait there. But wait no more! Here's chapter 2! Oh, and the house elf in the last chapter? Kinky? Her masters called her that because he mother's name was Kincaid, and because she and her mother come from Ireland. **_**Do not**_** get it mixed up with the modern definition, because that was not intended.**

Idiot. He actually thought that I'd agree. He thought wrong.

"No!" I said, perhaps a little too loudly. Lily's face fell, and I quickly hurried to make amends. "Why do you want to meet _him_ anyway?" Lily shrugged.

"Your family is somewhat of a legend. In my house, at least. My mum was Elladoria Lestrange, before she married my father. Your brother was the only Malfoy kid I'd heard of, because I didn't know about you yet. When I was younger, I used to ask my mum if there were any girls my age for me to play with, because I have six brothers. They all go to Durmstrang. My mum would always give me a little smirk and say to wait and see. I'm guessing that your family doesn't like you much either?" I shook my head ruefully, giving her a little half smile. Then I crashed straight into James, who had somehow gotten in front of me, then stopped dead. He caught me before I could take a very unladylike spill. We stood there for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Jesse and Lily joined in, but Juliet stared daggers at James's hands on my waist. Oops. I straightened up and quickly removed the offending hands. Juliet's face grew considerably brighter after that. I winked at her. Her pale face broke into a gentle smile, and she winked back. Looked like I'd just made a breakthrough.

"This is the common room," the nasally sounding prefect informed us. I looked up. We were standing outside a blank stretch of stone wall. Rather pathetic, actually. "Parseltongue," the prefect informed it. That must've been a password, because am ornately carved door appeared in the boring wall. The prefect (who I later found out was named Lorlack McGwellyn) opened the door and ushered all of us ickle firsties through. I followed James into the greenest room that I'd ever seen. I felt like I was in a giant leprechaun factory. Erm, that is, if the dodgy little blighters existed, which was highly unlikely. Someone poked me in the back. I turned, and saw that it was Jesse. He pointed to where Lily and Juliet were waiting.

"Go!" he hissed. I gave him a questioning look, and he obligingly elaborated. "You must be tired, so I thought that you'd like to get first pick of beds in your dorm." I gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Jesse," I said quietly. He seemed to be indecisive for a minute, and then seemed to make up his mind. He strode forward and wrapped me in a hug, whispering in my ear

"Anytime. G'night, Rosie." And with that, he melted away into the crowd and was gone. Rosie, he called me. No one had ever addressed me like that before. I decided that I liked it.

"Rosie," Lily said slowly. I jumped, not knowing that she had been listening. "It suits you." I smiled at her.

"Thanks, Lil." Juliet rolled her eyes, grabbing us by our wrists.

"This is all very touching, but Julie is tired and would appreciate it if you two would hurry up and walk to the dorm," she said snappishly. Lily and I giggled, and then walked down the girl's hallway to the door marked 'First Years.' I pushed it open to find myself in a very silver room.

"Bloody hell," I gasped, moving aside to allow Julie and Lily room to come it. "Salazar Slytherin could've used a few lessons on decorating from my mother. It looks like an adult unicorn came and threw up in here!" The other two nodded in fervent agreement, moving toward beds at the far end. I followed closely. _Bang!_ The door slammed open. The three of us jumped and turned around.

"What the bloody hell are you _doing _here?" I gasped. My twelve-year-old cousin smirked at me.

"Same as you lot, Cassie," she sneered. "The teachers decided that it would be prudent for me to repeat first year." Draco, James, and Jesse appearing in the doorway prevented her from saying anything nasty. Draco had his wand out, and all three looked furious.

"Katie," Draco barked. Katie turned and gave him a simpering smile. She knew he couldn't hurt her, and he knew it too. She was supposed to be a second year, knew more magic than him, and was bigger, stronger, and more agile. The other two were bigger than her, though, could hurt her, and probably would've if Julie and Lily hadn't intervened. They slid in between all of us and made their way over to Jesse and James. To my profound astonishment, Lily went to placate James, while Julie dragged Jesse away and stood whispering to him in a corner. I couldn't quite make out what they were whispering about, and I really didn't want to know.

"The boys can leave now," I said, raising my voice a little. They did, Jesse looking at me like I had two heads. That was fine with me. Julie shut the door behind them, and then we all changed into our pajamas and climbed into our respective beds. Just as I was drifting off, I heard a voice.

"Hey, cousin?" Argh. I really was not in the mood to talk to Katie right now.

"Yeah?"

"G'night, Peas." Ooh! I'd get her for that!

The next morning, I woke up to an icy cold bucket of water, courtesy of Lily. I sat up, drenched, sputtering, and wide-awake. The evil girl was giggling. I cast my best death glare in her direction, and her giggles immediately subsided.

"I got lonely," she muttered. I shook my head at her.

"You could've woken up Julie," I admonished, only half joking. Lily glanced at me, eyes twinkling naughtily.

"Why don't we wake her up now?" I pretended to think it over, then nodded. Lily ran to fill up the bucket again, then came back and stood next to me by Jules's bed. I silently counted to three, and then Lily splashed the contents of her bucket on Julie's head. And ear-piercing scream shattered the quiet. Footsteps clattered in the corridor, and James and Jesse burst in, followed by a boy I vaguely recognized at the Yaxley heir. Katie had slept through all of this.

"Hey," said slimy heir. I suppose he was handsome, with long, curly dark brown hair and big dark eyes. There was something that made me mistrust him, though. Maybe it was his 'holier than thou' look on his face that is worn by purebloods everywhere. He was tall, with broad shoulders. He looked about fifteen, instead of the eleven I presumed him to be. Unless, of course, he gets held back _a lot_ of years. Wouldn't be unbelievable. Most purebloods think they're too good to study and work, so they end up with high level jobs and no idea how to do them. I refuse to be like that. Of course, I also have to learn to be friendly. I took a deep breath.

"Hi," I said, finding my voice at last. The boy grinned, but it was cruel, calculating, and didn't touch his eyes.

"Sidro Yaxley," he said, holding out a hand.

"Annarose Malfoy," I replied, taking it. It was much larger than mine. He shook it.

"Pleasure." I didn't like his tone of voice. Lily cleared her throat and glanced at me pointedly. I looked down and noticed that we were still clasping hands. He turned bright red (I'm sure I did too) and jerked his hand back. James and Jesse ushered him out of the room, chortling. I closed the door and leaned against it. Julie noticed my expression and said quietly,

"Come on. Let's get ready so we can go eat."

"Over here!" The shouts of James and Jesse assaulted us as soon as we set foot in the Great Hall. I smiled and headed over, Lily and Julie behind me. My stomach turned when I saw Sidro sitting next to Jesse, glaring at his eggs like they'd done him a personal wrong. I slid in next to him and touched his arm gently

"Hey," I said softly. He jumped, scowling harder. Oh, well. It was worth a shot. I decided to eat, and just forget him.

"Boo," came a soft voice from behind me. It was my turn to jump, and turn around to shoot a death glare at the offending voice. Fred stood there, blue eyes glimmering mischievously. His friendly, open expression was laced with concern.

"What?" I snapped. He looked hurt, but recovered quickly.

"Come with me," he ordered, taking my hand. I got up and followed him, surprising myself, because I never take orders from anyone, especially my friends. He led me over to the corner of the Great Hall. There, Fred stopped and faced me.

"Why did you bring me here?" I demanded, sliding my hand inside my robe sleeve and gripping my wand tightly. He stepped back, eyeing my hand warily.

"I needed to tell you something," Fred explained, playing with his hands nervously. I cocked an eyebrow at him. "I needed to give you your schedule, and I wanted to ask-" he broke off, shuffling his feet and blushing an impressive shade of red that clashed spectacularly with his hair.

"Yes," I prompted, accepting my schedule from his sweaty hands. Ew. He blushed even redder, an impressive feat for someone already so red.

"I was hoping that you, George, and me could still be friends, even though you're a Slytherin." I could feel myself slowly turning pink, then gave him a shaky smile, nodding in assent. Then I rushed back to my table and began to talk animatedly to Lily for the rest of the meal.

-o-O-o-

Lily, Julie and I walked to Potions together, arriving a little early. Gryffindors started trickling in also, including one of the Abbott twins from last night, the little one with brown hair. She was walking with another little girl, who had straight blonde hair. She looked like she could be my little sister. The moment he saw the Abbott girl, Ferret started harassing her. That was something that I'd have to look into. Snape came swooping out of his office like an overgrown bat and took fifty points from Gryffindor for no apparent reason while the rest of us filed silently into the classroom. I took a seat in between Lily and Julie. We began to assemble the ingredients we needed for the potion on the board. About halfway through the lesson, Snape began admonishing Potter for his bright blue, fizzy potion. I quickly checked mine. It was rose pink, the ideal halfway stage described on the board. Lily, Julie, and I let out identical sighs of relief. At least Snape wouldn't be yelling at us today. The only other thing that I heard from Snape for the rest of the lesson was him ordering us to pack up our things and get out. Our next class was Herbology, and I honestly couldn't tell you what came next, because I was too busy avoiding Sidro Yaxley. Apparently he felt guilty for ignoring me at breakfast, and was trying to make it up to me now. He kept following me around trying to talk to me. I finally told him that if he didn't stop stalking me, I would hex him until he cried, and then I would kill him and make it look like a tragic accident. He left me alone after that. It wasn't really that surprising.

-o-O-o-

Saturday morning, a teeny tiny bird woke me up. I slid out of bed and staggered over to the window and opened it, receiving a letter from the midget owl. The envelope was standard letter size, and I was impressed by the fact that the little owl had been able to carry it. It had my name scrawled on it in red ink. The handwriting was sloppy, as if the writer had been in an immense hurry. I broke the seal and read the contents.

_**Dear Rosie,**_

_**Do you want to come hang out with **__**me**__** us this morning? We'll be out at the Black Lake from 7:27 to 12:27, if you want to join **__**me**__** us.**_

_** Love Fred**_

It was sweet of him to invite me. I checked my watch. It was 7:15 already. I wouldn't have any time to eat if I wanted to shower. Oh, well. That was the price I'd have to pay in order to spend time with my friends. My trunk lay at the foot of my four-poster. I pulled on an ice blue t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and my trainers. After pulling a brush through my hair, I threw a robe over my arm and headed down to the Black Lake.

"Rosie!" Fred shouted as soon as I got into earshot. Wonder how he learned about my nickname. I smiled and waved at him, sparing an amused glance for George. He grinned back, but was preoccupied with holding down his twin, who was jumping around like a crazed kangaroo that had been illegally crossbred with a monkey. George only let him go when I'd reached the blanket.

"Sorry," he apologized, grinning. "He's had a bit too much sugar. And he's really excited to see you." I stuck my tongue out at him, and then things got as serious as the three of us could manage. "Rosie," George said, no trace of a smile in his voice. "What happened?" I tried to play dumb.

"When?" My innocent expression didn't put off the twins one bit.

"The Sorting," Fred pressed. "Why're you in smarmy Slytherin and not in gallant Gryffindor like us?" How on earth do I respond to that accusation?

"Slytherin's a fine house!" I exclaimed hotly. "So if you want me to stay seated, you'd best not go prattling on any longer!" Fred, perhaps unwisely, was the first to speak.

"But you're a nice girl!" He proclaimed. I glared at him, and then got up and stomped away. He opened his mouth to yell after me, but realized that I wouldn't have been able to hear him, no matter how loud he shouted.

I entered the castle, still furious. In a blind rage, I stalked down corridors, not paying much attention to where I was going. When I finally stopped to dash angry tears out of my eyes, and to get my bearings, I discovered that I was outside of the Charms classroom.

"Oh, Ms. Malfoy, is it?" a squeaky voice asked, coming from around my middle. I looked down, and saw Professor Flitwick staring back at me.

"Yes," I replied calmly. As calmly as I could, at any rate. The tiny professor didn't seem to notice my Fred-induced anger, for which I was grateful.

"Tell your brother that I need to see him," Flitwick squeaked. I nodded assent, not trusting my voice at the moment. "You'll find him in the Potions classroom. Tell him that I need to see him about his essay after he is finished with his detention."

"Certainly, Professor."

"Thank you, Ms. Malfoy." He gave me a cheerful nod and headed back into his classroom to wait for my delinquent brother. I headed down to the dungeons, throwing on my robe as I went to fetch my brother.

I slowed down once I reached the dungeons, having been running and not wanting to be caught by Professor Snape. The door to the Potions classroom was closed, but I could hear a girl threatening my brother with magic. It seemed like a pretty good time to intervene, so I did just that. I burst in to find the tiny Abbott girl, the one with long brown hair, blue eyes, and Gryffindor robes, holding her wand to my brother's throat.

"Hey, loser," I spat, narrowing my eyes at my brother. "Flitwick sent me to tell you that you have-" I broke off, noticing for the second time the two of them were in. Picture this, if you will. Tiny little Abbott, about four foot seven, holding her wand to the throat of my five foot six brother. My expression hardened as I tried to suppress a laugh. The little girl quickly lowered her wand and stepped away from Draco. I relaxed; the temptation had passed.

"Hey, P-" the ferret began. I whipped out my wand and held it to his throat.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," I snarled. The little girl let out a small giggle, and I dropped my wand lower, temporarily distracted. My brother used the opportunity to scurry backwards and straighten his robes. Heaven forbid he look anything but perfect.

"Wow, Cassie," he said shakily. "Looks like you're not the only one that hates me." I grinned, and then turned to the smaller girl.

"Hi!" I said brightly. "I'm Annarose Malfoy. Call me Rose. Who are you?"

"Megan Abbott," the little girl responded. "Gryffindor. Are you and Malfoy brother and sister?" I gave my brother a look of pure loathing. Some may prefer to call it extreme distaste.

"Unfortunately," I spat, forcing the words into Draco's face. "Although I prefer to refer to him as my distant cousin. You know, that way it seems like we're not really related." How do you like me now, Ferret? He glared at me. I smiled back sweetly. My tone had acid in it when I spoke again. "May I ask why you were holding your wand to Draco's throat? Not that I object, but…"

"I told you to call me Malfoy," My brother hissed.

"And I told _you_ that I didn't care," I retorted, mimicking his tone of voice. He glared at me.

"You don't, but you should," he warned. Yes, I'm so _very_ scared of you.

"Too bad."

"Rose, to answer your question, he was being an arrogant ferret," Megan interrupted. I think she was just sick of hearing _his_ voice. "I didn't think anyone was here, so…" I grinned, a thought blossoming like a beautiful flower inside my brain.

"Right, so, Megan, how do you feel about being, I don't know, friends?" Megan nodded.

"Hey, Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Who's older? You or ferret?" I gritted my teeth.

"Creature." No, not Kreacher, Creature. Ah, never mind.

"Oh," Megan said, sounding disappointed.

"Great," Ferret mumbled. Megan and I turned to face him

"What?" I demanded.

"My sister and my… enemy are now friends." Uh oh, he hesitated over the word enemy. I'd have to warn Megan about that later.

-o-O-o-

Later that day, Megan dragged me down to the lake, and there we were, walking around in the same area that I'd yelled at Fred in three hours previously.

"So, you're not one of those Slytherins who will only be friends with purebloods?" Megan asked apprehensively. I laughed lightly.

"Nah. My family says that I go out of my way to be friends with 'mudbloods, half bloods, and blood traitors.'" I made air quotes around the three names.

"No wonder Malfoy hates you," Megan mused. I don't think she knew that I was listening. "Just so you know, Annie won't be happy about us being friends." I laugh. Had the girl never heard of secrets?

"Then don't tell her," I said, trying to reason with the nutter. "She doesn't need to know." Because honestly, it was none of her business. Megan shrugged dubiously.

"But I don't want to lie to her," she murmured. I face palmed in frustration. Honestly, Gryffindors! "I have to finish my homework anyway. See you later." The little girl turned and began trudging back up the hill. She was almost to the castle when she ran into my brother. Again.

"Move!" Megan yelled. Right in his face, too. I was so proud. When I saw him start to draw himself up to his full height, I smelled trouble of the ferret variety, so I raced up the hill to Megan's side. She was standing nose to nose with my brother, an astonishing feat for one so tiny, and one of them was enjoying it a little too much. It wasn't Megan. My brother looked straight at me and sneered. It caught me off guard a little. He'd sneered at me many times before, but there'd never been one so… sneerish.

"Wow, look who's friends with a Gryffindor," he said in a scathing tone. Did he not notice James, Jesse, Lily, Julie, and Sidro? I do too have friends in Slytherin!

"Look who's friends with pigs," I retorted. Not one of my best, but it'll have to do.

"And you call yourself a Slytherin!" My brother spat. "Hanging around with all of these Mudbloods! You might as well be a Gryffindor!" I flinched. That was a low blow for anyone, but especially in my family.

"I wish I was," I muttered, almost unconsciously. Then I shook myself, inwardly berating myself for my slipup. "And she's not a Mudblood! You're just sore that she doesn't like you, you jumped up little-" I was going to say princess, but he cut me off.

"Cass, I don't think you want to finish that sentence," Princess said smoothly. Trying to save his dignity, no doubt, or at least what was left of it.

"Draco, there are no words to describe the height of your stupidity," Megan said, jumping into our _pleasant_ conversation. Bad move, Meggie. Bad, bad move.

"My stupidity?" Draco questioned stupidly. Megan gave him a sweet smile.

"Look, Rose, he even admits to it," she said, in a tone that matched her smile. No, don't drag me into this!

"How sweet," I said imperiously. Great, now I'm going to get a Howler because of her. "Come, Meggie, weren't you saying something about homework?"

"Yes," Megan agreed. "Bye, Draco." We began to walk away, but then I looked back at my brother. He looked sort of lost without his goons behind him. Megan kept walking, not even noticing that I'd stopped. That was fine with me. I'd apologize later.

"Hey, Draco?" I said softly, walking toward him. He looked up, a startled look on his face like I'd just woken him up from a pleasant dream.

"Yeah?" For the first time in years, he spoke to me normally. He must be growing up. We walked back down the hill to a giant rock near the water's edge.

"What's the matter?" I asked him, real concern in my voice. He looked up at me with wide gray eyes. I felt like I was looking at a male version of myself.

"She hates me, Annie," he said, an element of real shock in his voice.

"That's not true," I said, feeling somewhat guilty for lying to him. He shook his head stubbornly, just like when we were younger.

"Yes, she does," he contradicted sadly. "Everyone does."

"No they don't!" I retorted hotly. "Crabbe and Goyle don't! Pansy doesn't!" Draco shuddered.

"I wish she did." We shared a laugh together, the first in ages.

"I don't blame you," I giggled. He chortled, but then grew serious.

"You hate me," he said quietly. I drew back, aghast.

"No I don't!" I exclaimed shrilly. He glanced at me, gray eyes soft.

"I know." I frowned.

"You just said I did!" He shook his head.

"I just wanted to hear someone say it." I smiled at him gently.

"Love you, Brother of mine." He smiled back.

"Love you too, Sister of mine." I hugged him tightly, feeling worlds older than I did when I woke up this morning. For the first time in months, I got that feeling that you get when you acknowledge that you have a family. And it felt pretty great.


	3. We all fall down

** A/N: Haha, don't you all just love my author's notes? I do this so I don't waste time at the end! Anyway, the long awaited chapter! And for you Notes readers, go vote on the poll on my profile. If you're not a Notes reader, become one, and THEN go vote on the poll on my profile. Thank you for your time.**

The morning after Draco became human again, he did something to make me believe otherwise. He woke me up at the ungodly hour of 6:30. And the next day. And evvery day for a week. Or a month. I guess I was too sleep deprived to keep track. Again, blame my brother for getting the damned morning person genes. One particular morning stands out above all other mornings for one particular reason. He jumped on me to wake me up. Actually _jumped_ on me. The prat couldn't find it within himself to wake me up normally, no, he had to jump on me. Why? To inform me that first years were now allowed to play on their house Quidditch teams. This news was exciting, but I would've found out from Jesse anyway. He's my only Quidditch obsessed friend. Sigh. The news also posed a problem. Of course I wanted to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch Team, but I was willing to put money on the fact that Megan would try out for her own House Team. I didn't want rivalries to come between us, especially not now that I was secretly working behind her back with Lily to set her up with my brother. I say secretly because Megan gave the impression that she'd rather eat her own shoe then ever go out with Draco. I was planning on changing that. I also don't think she gave a damn as to if Draco fancied her or not. I was determined to change that also. She was eleven, and who knew what she'd do in 3 years from now?

"Rosie!" A cheerful voice sang in my head. Damn her. I groaned.

"What?" I groaned, opening my eyes. Lily smiled brightly.

"Your brother fancies Megan Abbott." it wasn't a question.

"Mmm," I replied. It wasn't a denial. But it wasn't a confirmation. Lily looked rather put out.

"Well?"

"Well what?" She sighed in exasperation.

"Does he or does he not fancy Megan Abbott?" I sat up.

"Why so curious?" Her cheeks took on a reddish tint.

"Because I can help." I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Lily, I think he's beyond help. How on earth could you manage to help him?" Lily smiled mischeivously.

"You just wait and see." I didn't exactly trust her.

"Hey, Lil?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" I took a deep breath, then asked the question that had been niggling at my mind ever since Draco told me the news.

"Should I try out for Quidditch?" Lily looked mildly surprised.

"What position?" I shrugged.

"Probably Chaser. My first choice would be Beater, bu what Captain in their right mind would allow a first year to be a Beater?" Lily nodded thoughtfully.

"I think you should go for it. You'd be brilliant," she assured me, green eyes earnest. I smiled thankfully at her.

"Thanks, Lils. I'm going to get some practice in before the trials. See you later." Then I left the dormitory, Lily wishing me luck as I left.

The Quidditch Pitch was empty when I got there. I was grateful for that. There was a long box hidden somewhere under the stands. Draco and I had stashed our brooms there on the first day of term. Mine was on one side, his was on the other. Draco and Rosie, sister and brother, side by side. We both had brand new Nimbus 2000s, but mine had my name engraved in gold on the handle. I really am a special girl, aren't I? You know what, don't answer that. Then again, Draco really is a special kind of stupid, so I suppose we're about even. That's also the easiest way to tell how we're related.

I yanked my broom out of its slot and carried it out to the Pitch.

"Hey!" A burly Slytherin sixth year was standing on the grass, watching me fly. I'd gotten off the ground by now, and was currently flying in and out of the goal hoops at the far end of the Quidditch Pitch. Was I in trouble? Leaning forward slightly, I steered my broom into a dive and touched down safely. My feet firmly on the ground once again, I shouldered my broom and marched over to the sixth year, ready to face the music.

"What?" I demanded irritably. His eyes flicked over me, narrowing thoughtfully as he took in my appearance.

"You trying out later?" he asked. I nodded. "What position." I had a sudden flashback to earlier as I answered,

"Hopefully Beater." I followed this statement with the patented Malfoy smirk.

"What year are you?"

"First. Taking advantage of this new rule and trying out." The boy smirked back at me, holding out his hand for me to shake.

"Marcus Flint." I shook his hand warily.

"Rose Malfoy. Are you the Captain?" Marcus Flint nodded, turning to leave. I smiled at his back as he walked away, kicking off into the air once again.

After a while, I glanced down at the ground -whoa, that's a long way down- and saw the tiny form of Megan Abbott standing on the edge of the Quidditch Pitch. I flew over and touched down next to her.

"Hey!" I greeted her. She smiled weakly. "What are you doing here?" The lack of color on her face worried me.

"I came to find you," she replied. Find me? Why? "I wanted to ask you if you think I would make a good chaser. Would I?" My stomach dropped, but I couldn't completely lie to her. In truth, she'd probably make a brilliant chaser. I settled for a half truth.

"I think so. Why do you ask?" Megan visibly relaxed.

"I signed up to try out on Saturday to be Chaser. Angelina Johnson broke her arm." Was she aware that she was talking to a Slytherin? Why was she telling me about Angelina Johnson? Although this was a good thing for Slytherin, because Johnson was supposedly "irreplaceable," and we'd have a better chance of winning against Gryffindor without her on the team. I took a deep, calming breath.

"I know you'll do great. We have five minutes to get to class. Professor Snape may not mind me being late, but he won't be so forgiving to you." Megan smiled at me and hurried off to class. How had she missed the fact that I had History of Magic and wasn't going to Potions anyway? I walked back to the Quidditch Pitch, where every hopeful was gathered, excused from class and waiting for Flint to begin the trials.

-o-O-o-

To my surprise, Draco showed up at the trials. Not to try out, like he probably told Professor Binns, but instead to aid my friends in creating a cheering section for me. Then again, all of them were here. It didn't take much effort to skive off History of Magic. I grinned at my brother, and he responded by giving me a thumbs up. I was astounded when Flint came over to me and handed me a Beater's bat. I didn't let him down, I hope. In the ten minutes that I was given to show what I could do, I managed to raise an apple sized lump on the back of Slytherin Chaser Montague's head. He glanced at me, then flew over to Flint. They had a brief conversation in hushed tones with the rest of the current team, then Flint nodded and called all of the hopefuls down to the ground. My palms were sweaty and slipping on the handle of my broom as I touched back down to the ground. I knew that there were only two spots available, a Chaser spot and a Beater spot. Flint gave us all a sneer.

"Our new Beater is Annarose Malfoy, and our new Chaser is Jesse Lundy!" he announced triumphantly. The other hopefuls slunk off of the Pitch in a temper. I barely noticed. The moment Flint announced my name kept repeating in my head, along with the phrase "I got in." Snape could've danced the can can while wearing a tutu and I wouldn't have noticed. Jesse raced over to me, picked me up, and spun me around gleefully.

"Jesse!" I shrieked. "Put me down!" He ignored me. Then I kicked him in the kneecap. He dropped me quickly, but was still beaming despite the obvious pain in his knee. I backed up, trying to avoid his maniacal energy, when something caught my eye. A lone, red headed figure was standing at the edge of the pitch, watching me. As I stared, he waved me over. I made my way to him, avoiding the discriminating looks from my peers.

"Rosie," Fred greeted me when I reached him. "How goes it?" I glared at him.

"You lost your right to calling me Rosie when you insulted my house," I snapped. He stepped back, hands in the air.

"Sorry!" He apologized quickly. "I was just coming by to say I'm sorry you didn't make the team. Maybe next year, yeah?" My vision blurred, and I saw red.

"How dare you!" I screamed. Fred looked confused. It only made me angrier. "I made the team, you uphill gardener!" His normally cheerful face grew frighteningly stormy.

"I just assumed... you know... since you're a first year and all... Sorry?" he finished lamely. Then he grew furious again. "And I'm not an uphill gardener! I don't like guys! I like-" then he broke off, blushing furiously. I raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to finish his sentence. "Oh, never mind," he snapped at me. "You wouldn't understand."

"Fine," I retorted, then spun on my heel and marched away, leaving him watching me with a forlorn expression on his usually good natured face.

-o-O-o-

That Friday, Draco and I left Charms together, chatting animatedly with Lily, who was walking behind us. I happened to face forward for a moment and saw Megan rushing by in the direction of the library. Lily and I exchanged knowing glances, then I grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him alongside me as I followed my friend. The two of us followed Megan into the library and all the way to her favorite table in the back corner, where she promptly sat down and began to read a thin paperback novel. I motioned for Draco to stay behind me , then approached her table quietly.

"Hey, so this is where you've been hiding," I said, smiling down at my petite friend. She looked up at me with wide eyes. "I've been looking for you all day," I informed her. A lie, but she didn't need to know, right?

"Why?" Megan asked confusedly. She kept glancing over at Draco, then at the floor. Hmm, interesting.

"To wish you luck at the trials," I told her, grinning. "Duh."

"Oh, yeah," she said dumbly. Draco snorted quietly. I cringed internally. Megan glared at him. Seriously, Draco, stop it! "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I replied, then whirled around to face Draco. "You're going to ruin it with her," I hissed at him furiously in a warning tone. His eyes widened comically. Obviously, he didn't think about the consequences of his actions.

"Rose?" Megan said quietly. I spun back around.

"Yeah?"

"I have to get to class. See you later?"

"Sure," I told her, hiding my irritation under a mask. After all, it was directed at my brother, not her. "Draco and I have a free period right now. See you later, Meggie!"

"Bye." And Megan left, Draco staring frustratedly at her back. As soon as she was completely out of sight, he flopped into her recently vacated chair.

"What the in the name of Merlin's left sock was that about?" I demanded, taking the seat opposite him.

"I don't know!" He wailed. I felt a stab of sympathy for him, but it was immediately overpowered by annoyance when he opened his mouth again. "And why Merlin's _left_ sock?"

"You know I've always thought the right was too favored," I responded in a bored tone. He nodded wisely. "And you're never going to get her to like you if you don't try harder!" He cringed, and the sympathy returned.

"I really am trying, Rosie," Draco said in a small voice. "But it's no use. She hates me! I really am trying!" This last ended in a wail. I sighed in exasperation at my brother's stupidity.

"Then try harder!"

-o-O-o-

Saturday was oddly warm for October. I was able to get a bit of a lie in for once, although it was only because Lily and Julie were having one as well. The three of us went down to breakfast together, joining Draco, James, and Jesse at the Slytherin table. I noticed my brother glancing in what he thought was a stealthy manner across the Great Hall every now and again. Lily must've caught him too, because she smirked at me knowingly. I smirked back, then the two of us burst into uncontrollable giggles.

"He was totally staring at her," Lily whispered excitedly.

"Of course he was. The bloke's besotted," I whispered back. The boys and Julie gave us odd looks as we burst out into another giggle fit, which only made us laugh harder. Julie sighed heavily. Lily and I exchanged glances, then got up and led our uninformed friends out of the hall, Julie clutching tightly to her book. Actually, it was my book that she'd stolen last night before I'd gotten the chance to read it, but that really wasn't the point. The six of us stopped out by a large silver maple that was about twenty feet from the Lake. Draco had insisted on tagging along. Why, I do not know. He already knew the story. In fact, he was one of the bloody main characters. Lily and I plopped down on the ground and indicated that the others should do the same. Julie took the most convincing, but eventually she settled down next to James after much complaining.

"Why are we out here?" Jesse demanded. I rolled my eyes.

"Keep your hair on." He gasped mock affrontedly. Lily laughed fondly.

"Well, Rosie'll tell you the story," she said, effectively turning all the attention on me.

"Well," I began, after threatening her sufficiently for the time being. "It all began when Lily suspected that Draco had feelings other then hatred for a Gryffindor..." I continued the story. Lily interrupted a lot to correct me. Draco interrupted even more then Lily to tell me to stop telling the story. James dragged my brother to the ground and sat on him, effectively shutting him up. Jesse listened in silent fascination. Julie let out small squeaks of astonishment every few sentences. When Lily and I had finished our story, Draco let out a fierce growl. I braced myself for the questioning from my three friends... but it never came.

"I have to go process this information," Julie told me, throwing me my 1000 page novel and standing up, rubbing her temples. She walked away with Jesse and James, no doubt discussing the information they'd just heard. Lily stood up too.

"I'm going to go bother people. Come, Draco," she ordered, stretching. "You coming, Rosie?" I shook my head,

"I'm actually just going to read my book that Julie so rudely stole from me then returned out here." Lily nodded, then followed Jesse, Julie, and James, while dragging Draco by the ear. I rolled my eyes and sat back against the tree to read, before an annoyingly familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hello?" George Weasley said loudly. I ignored him, but accidentally let out a sigh that alerted him to my presence. "Rosie!" He exclaimed excitedly, skipping around the tree. Yes, I said skipping. George Weasley was skipping.

"Hi," I said, slightly alarmed at his skipping and slightly unsure of how I should talk to him now that his twin wasn't speaking to me. He seemed to have no qualms about this, however, and plopped down beside me.

"How are you?" George asked, playing nervously with the hem of his sleeve. I blinked rapidly. Well, that was a severe mood swing. Was he ill?

"All right, I guess," I told him, smiling a little at his concern. He seemed to be pondering something. I watched him closely for a moment, then said "Spit it out, George." He took a deep breath and blurted out,

"I remember you!" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, well done. I'm so proud of you. You remember me while you're talking to me," I congratulated him, clapping sarcastically. He blushed a deep red, then hastened to correct himself.

"I mean from when we were younger," George elaborated. I looked at my lap. "But Fred doesn't." I met his gaze again, alarmed now. "Don't worry," he told me, sounding less then sure of himself. "He will." Then he got up and walked away.

"Yes, but when?" I asked his retreating back. Feeling very confused, I did the only thing that made sense in this scenario. I went back to my book.

-o-O-o-

"I made the team," a cheerful voice informed me about an hour later. I glanced up from my book to see Megan walking towards me. Now wait, hold up. Backtrack. She made the team?

"That's great!" I exclaimed in a falsely cheery voice.

"Yeah," Megan agreed, grinning. "I have to go find Annie. See you later?"

"Sure," I replied automatically, a smile fixed on my face. My friend turned and raced away. I sat back against the tree, desperately trying to process this new information. She made the team. I would be aiming to injure one of my very good friends with a very heavy, maniacal lead ball. Bloody hell.


	4. I'm in trouble again, aren't I

**A/N: Yay! We did it! Both chapters out before school! So I hope you appreciate it :)**

There is only one thought that crosses my mind for the next month, During class, during Quidditch Practice, even when I'm asleep. _I am in big trouble. _And it is because of this thought that I avoid talking to Megan Abbott for the entire month. Instead, I hang out with Slytherins only. Lily, Jesse, James, Julie, my brother and I are now inseparable. Except when it comes to torturing poor, innocent bystanders. Then we're perfectly happy to sit back and let Draco join forces with Crabbe and Goyle. My cousin is now completely obsessed with Sidro Yaxley, even though that's completely irrelevant to life. She's out of my hair for now. Hopefully, she never comes back.

The first run in I had with Megan was the day before my first ever Quidditch Match. Unfortunately, I would be playing her team, Gryffindor. My brother, Crabbe, Goyle, and I were in the library "researching" spells for Flitwick's homework. The four of us walked by her usual table, and Draco immediately started taunting her. He was asking her if she was ready for defeat, and I could feel her eyes on me, waiting for me to defend her against my brother and his biting words. Except for I didn't. Not even when he called her Slytherin's ticket to victory. I can't believe I did that to her. Instead, I looked over to where Fred and George Weasley were deep in conversation. George caught my eye and made a face at me. I giggled softly. Then I turned back to Megan, only to find her glaring at me in outrage. Oops. Stupid George. Megan snapped at Draco, then turned back to her homework, clearly dismissing us. I glanced over at my brother, and noticed him watching her sadly. My heart went out to him, and I knew then that I had to get him out of there immediately. I put my arm around his shoulders and led him away to another table, whispering in his ear,

"It's okay. She's just stressed. But you've _got_ to be much nicer to her. No more teasing." He nodded, slipping his arm around my waist and giving me a brief squeeze before we separated, sat down, and got back to work.

While I waited for my brother to finish with my quill, I noticed Megan rushing out of the library, clutching her books as if they were lifelines. And to her, they might as well have been. That's the last I saw of her all day, except for class. Then dinner came. She was sitting across from Fred, talking to a fellow Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. At one point, I noticed George watching a girl with long, light brown hair. I racked my brain, trying to come up with a name to put to her face, and came up with a brief bit of information that my lovable rat of a brother had given me. Her name was Alicia Spinnet. She was a third year, and a chaser on the Gryffindor team. As I watched, Megan caught George staring at Alicia and the whole team started laughing. I noticed that it was because George had slopped his pumpkin juice down his front. Fred caught Megan's eye and winked. That's when I'd had enough of their flirting. I left the Great Hall and stormed down to the Slytherin Common Room, furious tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. I gave the password to the door pretending to be a wall and stalked inside, shoved open the door to my dormitory, and flopped on my bed. I was sobbing by this point, for reasons unfathomable to even me. Was I jealous? No, that would be ridiculous. I just wanted him to remember! It was like he had short term memory loss or something! After all these years, I was so close to having one of my best friends back, but then he just slipped away! Should I tell him about our shared past? The puzzling question lingered on my mind as I fell asleep.

-o-O-o-

Breakfast was so not happening. I mean, you don't really expect me to eat when I've got my first Quidditch Match in less then an hour! But apparently, my friends thought otherwise. James even threatened to force-feed Jesse a sausage. Eventually, we each ate a piece of toast, then raced to catch up with our departing team before our friends could reprimand us.

The team walked confidently out onto the Pitch, brooms clutched tightly in our left hands. Jesse and I had gotten over the nerves, and were now trying not to laugh as we attempted to retain our game faces. The rest of the team had serious poker faces that almost intimidated me, and it would look bad if the two of us didn't match. Madam Hooch instructed the captains to shake hands. I can almost guarantee that Flint tried to break Wood's hand.

"Mount your brooms!" Madame Hooch yelled. "On my whistle. Three... Two... One!" I mounted my broom and soared into the air, Beaters bat in hand. Flint shot off to guard Bletchley, our Keeper, near the goal hoops.

"The Snitch is released!" The commentator yelled. "And the match begins!" Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle in the air, then released the Bludgers. I immediately darted after one, Lucian Bole (the other Beater) after the other. The Bludger pelted after Adrian Pucey, and I darted after it, beating it furiously toward Spinnet, missing by an inch. The commentator was still yelling crap, but I paid no attention. Pucey tried to score on Gryffindor, but was stopped by a Bludger that had been hit at him by George. Megan caught the dropped Quaffle and passed it to George's future wife, who scored. Bletchley threw the Quaffle at Jesse, who caught it, streaked down the Pitch, and scored. Spinnet and Megan passed the Quaffle back and forth between them as they made their way back down toward the Slytherin goal hoops. I took a deep breath and whacked a Bludger at Megan, causing her to duck and drop the Quaffle. The commentator started to call me names, but I ignored him.

Flint and Megan each scored once, Gryffindor pulling ahead by ten points. Jesse nearly caught a pass from Flint, but it was intercepted by Bell. I smacked a Bludger at her, and got a sick pleasure from hearing the dull thunk that meant the Bludger had found its mark. Pucey scored again, tying up the score sixty to sixty. Then the Seekers spotted the Snitch. Potter and Terence Higgs streaked down toward the base of the tallest goal hoop where the Snitch was lurking.

"Higgs captures the Snitch. Bad luck, Potter. Slytherin beats Gryffindor two hundred and ten to sixty," the commentator announced sadly. Terence touched down to the ground and waved the winged golden ball above his head. The Slytherin stands cheered loudly. I noticed my brother and other friends make their way down to the Pitch. Jesse picked me up and swung me around in a circle, just like he'd done at the tryouts. Then the two of us took to the air again for a celebratory lap with our team. I could hear booing coming from the other house's supporters, but I didn't let it affect me.

-o-O-o-

At lunch, I took a sandwich out to the lake to eat alone. The celebrating thing was fun at first, but I was getting sort of sick of it. There's only so many times I could hear "We _so _killed those Gryffindorks!" before I start to go slightly mental. So I decided to get away from the festivities for a bit. The lake was calm, sparkling innocently in the afternoon sunlight. I took a bite of my sandwich, then nearly choked as a familiar voice called my name and its owner was reflected in the water.

"Rosie?" Fred called. My eyes widened.

"Yeah?" He came down the hill and sat down next to me, stretching his long legs out in front of him. "What do you want?" I asked carefully, not wanting to upset him again or anything. He took a deep breath and held it, then let it out in a big whoosh.. People seem to do that a lot when they're around me. I wonder why.

"I came to apologize for being such a barmy git," Fred said quickly, staring determinedly at the water as though there was nothing he'd like better then to jump in and drown himself. The tips of his ears were turning a delicate shade of maroon.

"Excuse me?" I asked, not entirely sure I'd heard him correctly. He grimaced.

"Please don't make me say it again. George makes me do this all the time, and I hate it," he told me. I giggled and threw a handful of grass at him. This escalated into a full on grass fight that turned into a tickle fight as the afternoon wore on.

-o-O-o-

After dinner that evening, I went back outside for a walk around the lake, only to find my brother crying under a tree a little ways into the Forbidden Forest.

"Draco!" I screamed. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" This may seem like an overreaction right now, but just wait until you hear what he was doing. My brother looked up from where he was examining a deep gash on his hand. Blood was trickling off the side of his hand and onto the ground in a steady stream. His face was streaked with blood and tears. His normally composed gray eyes were crazed.

"It's the same," he whispered. Then slightly louder, "Why is it the same?" I took a step back, alarmed. He seemed like he was ready to take a swing at something, and I wanted to ensure that that thing would not be my face.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Her blood," he told me, still in that madman's whisper.

"Who's blood?" I asked, perplexed.

"Megan Abbott. The Gryffindor Mud- Muggle Born," he answered, still watching his blood mingle with the dirt. It was almost like he was mesmerized by the red liquid. But no, that couldn't possibly be right. Blood made him sick. Had ever since we were young. I almost laughed at his statement, but caught myself just in time.

"Of course it's the same," I said, trying to reason with my half mad brother. "She's a mammal! Just like you!"

"But she's Muggle Born!" I sighed exasperatedly. Clearly he was stuck in a complex of "all Muggle Borns are scum." It would be very hard to break him free of this complex, but I would do my very best to ensure that it happened.

"So?" I asked curiously, wanting to know his reasoning on this topic.

"She's Muggle Born! Dad told me that all Muggle Borns stole their magic from a witch or wizard! He said that mud runs through their veins now because of that crime!" Draco exclaimed, running a hand through his silvery blond hair, making it messier then it had ever been, even when he had morning bedhead.

"First of all, it's not possible to steal magic. Either you're born with it or you're not," I explained exhaustedly. "And second, _Mum_ told me to never get sucked into Dad's demented prejudices. She said that we needed to form our own opinions of a person based on how they acted, not who their ancestors were. Did you ever listen to her?" Draco looked sheepish.

"Er... no." I clapped a hand to my forehead.

"Come on. Let's get you to Madame Pomfrey," I told him, more for his sanity then his hand. I turned to go.

"No!" He yelled, stumbling back, tripping over a root, and falling to the ground. I wrinkled my brow in confusion.

"Why not?" Draco got a determined look on his pointed features.

"Because if Megan can brave having a cut on her hand, I can too. It's not fair for me to just go and have it healed by Madame Pomfrey. It needs to heal the Muggle way... I need to be reminded..." he trailed off, glancing at me then looking back down at his bleeding hand. I smiled in understanding.

"Okay," I agreed easily. "But let's at least go get you cleaned up. You're covered in blood." And it's true. He looked like he'd just been in a particularly bad sword fight, minus the sword wounds. Draco nodded, understanding my reasoning, took my proffered hand, and let me lead him back to the castle. Despite the wound on his hand, I truly do think he learned something that day, and not just that being a bloody mess is sickening.


	5. Hard hearts soften and lines are crossed

**A/N: OK! It's Rose week, here in TOH land. Yes, I know I sound crazy. Problem? Anyway, as I explained in TOHMS, each story will have a week to be updated. The author will have two week to write it, and it will be updated on Saturday or Sunday, depending on where you live. As you can see, this is Rose's week. Megan's will be next week. See you there! Oh, and like I said last time, go read Notes, then vote on the poll on my profile page! Thanks!**

I should have seen it all coming. But then again, I'm not psychic. I'm just a plain old nearly twelve year old girl with a seriously screwed up home life and seriously whacked friends. Not to mention trying to patch up my twin brother's virtually non existent love life while trying to create one of my own. Anyway, as I was saying...

Draco and I tried to clean out his gash as best we could, but that wasn't saying much. It quickly became infected over the course of the next three weeks. During that time, I began to notice a pattern when Megan Abbott was involved. Draco would enter a room, and she'd automatically get up and leave. Megan would choose a desk in class, and Draco would fine one on the opposite side of the room. I don't think either of them truly realized what they were doing, but it amused me to no end. Meanwhile, Slytherin had beaten Ravenclaw four hundred and seventy to one hundred in Quidditch, putting us in first place in the running for the Quidditch Cup. I had done a spell wrong in Charms and had singed off Jesse's eyebrows without a clue as to how to grow them back. Then, I burned my fingers in Potions while trying to make a boil-cure potion. Something extra had somehow been added, and the whole entire potion had exploded. It splashed all over me, and some on Lily, covering the both of us with painful, angry red boils.

On the day that I _really_ continue to tell this story, I was once again doing homework in the library. Only this time, I had been joined by Lily, Julie, Jesse, and James. Draco was also here again. Crabbe and Goyle had opted out of yet another study session. Maybe they'd fail all their classes and have to repeat the year. Oh yeah, if only I was that lucky. Anyway, Lily and I _probably_ should have been doing homework, but instead we were secretly watching Draco secretly watch Megan. She stared blankly back at him, and I could tell that she didn't notice his existence whatsoever. It was so pathetically adorable that Lily and I broke down in bouts of silent giggles a few times. Eventually, Megan returned her gaze to her book, but Draco kept glancing, and then staring at her.

Lunchtime finally arrived, and not a moment too soon. Lily and I jumped up from the table, shoving our chairs back with a screeching noise that made everyone in the vicinity turn and glare at us. I shoved my barely started Astronomy homework into my bag and headed out the door with my best friend, the other part of our little group trailing behind us. Draco caught up to me, then turned back around to grin at Megan. To my surprise, she smiled gently back at him.

"Did you see that?" my hyperactive brother asked me, jumping along at my side like a crazed rabbit as I left the library.

"Yeah," I told him, holding the door open for my other friends. The filed out, each carrying their own, personal, ten ton bag of pointless nonsense with them. I followed James out. He slung his arm around my shoulders in a friendly manner, shocking me. Luckily, Julie, who I suspected liked him, didn't notice. Unluckily, Lily, who I knew didn't, did. She gave me an odd look, gesturing subtly to James's arm around my shoulders. I shrugged off the weight, causing his arm to drop down by his side, and strode on ahead, ignoring his hurt and bewildered look.

We reached the Great Hall at last, Draco still skipping in a very un-Dracolike manner with poorly disguised glee. I actually had to get my dear friend Jesse to help me restrain him. As you can probably tell by now, I find it much easier to trust Jesse and Lily then I do James and Julie. And as usual, Draco is very much the opposite.

"Rosie!" Jesse snapped his fingers in front of my face. I rejoined reality with a jolt, only to find myself sitting on a bench in the Great Hall with my friend shoving a piece of parchment in front of me.

"What?" I asked, taking it. Across the top was the headline 'Dregan,' and under that the parchment had been divided into two columns. The first one read 'before fourth year,' and 'after fourth year' headed up the other. "What is this?" I nearly screeched, not bothering myself with witnesses.

"Shh," Jesse hissed, taking the parchment back. "Do you want in?"

"In on what?" I asked curiously, dropping my vocal volume.

"The bet."

"Excuse me?"

"Read." And so I did. By the time I was done, an evil grin had spread across my face, and innocent bystanders were backing away, to my great amusement.

"Are you in?" Jesse demanded eagerly. I nodded.

"One Galleon says he'll ask her out before fourth year. But I want some of the profit, because he's my twin."

"Got it," Jesse said, jotting the amount down, not even bothering to argue with me about the profits thing. He then proceeded to stuff his face. I cringed as crumbs sprayed everywhere. In an effort to avoid his second hand food, I glanced over at the Gryffindor table, just in time to see Megan stomp out of the Great Hall. Then her blonde friend (Frannie? Danni?) began talking to Fred and George. Uh oh. This would not turn out well if Fred and George Weasley were involved. Not well at all. I grabbed my stuff and hurried out of the Hall after Megan, unaware the whole time that I was being followed myself.

Megan stormed out to a large pile of boulders near the lake and plunked herself down on one of the smaller ones. I hid behind a cluster of tall bushes. No, I wasn't spying. I was just... casually observing.

"Hey," Fred said in a whisper from behind me. I spun around, proceeding to get my arse covered in dirt.

"Shh," I hissed. He raised a ginger eyebrow, then immediately understood when he saw Megan through the foliage. Sinking onto his knees in the dirt beside me, we settled back to watch the next chapter of the Dregan drama play out.

-o-O-o-

"Oh, dear God," I gasped. Fred nodded in silent agreement. Megan had actually taken my brother's hand, and was examining it closely. As we looked on, she proceeded to clean it out with lake water, and bandage it with a piece of fabric from the hem of her robes. She did all this with much more care and a much gentler touch then I ever could have. But, seeing as this was Draco and Megan, everything started to fall apart. One minute, they were getting along fine. The next, Megan was stomping away, and Draco was watching her leave. As soon as she was out of sight, he buried his face in his arms. I sighed, _really_ wanting to just leave him there. So I did. Instead of being a good sister and going to him, I slunk back to the castle with Fred.

The second I got inside, I felt rather guilty. I'd just left my one and only brother out there. Sighing, I turned back to go to him, but Fred blocked my path with a long arm.

"Don't do it," he warned. I furrowed my brow.

"Why?"

"Because. He'll just get mad at you, too." I thought it over for a few minuted, then decided it made sense. Fred and I climbed up the main staircase, before we seperated. Fred left to go to his common room, and I meandered up and down the stairs for a while. As I walked back down for the fourth time, Megan appeared.

"Hey, Abbott!" I greeted her.

"Yeah?" she said warily. I suppressed a smirk.

"Have you seen my brother?" I asked. It was a test.

"Last I saw him was by the boulders near the Black Lake," she told me. And she passed with flying colors.

"Thanks!" I chirped, racing out the door and cackling maniacally. Megan just looked cinfused. Instead of searching for Draco, I flew around the Quidditch Pitch for the rest of the afternoon.

-o-O-o-

"I can't leave you alone for one second, can I?" I shrieked. Draco cringed, then yelled,

"I didn't do anything!"

"You called her a Mudblood!" I screamed. He turned white. "No wonder she hates you!"

"Rosie, please stop," he pleaded, his features twisting, but I plowed on.

"That's a line that you never cross, and you freaking crossed it!" I was furious, up in his face and yelling at full volume. "I wouldn't blame her if she never spoke to you again! In fact, I hope she doesn't! Because until she does, I won't!" He opened his mouth, but I turned, switching him across the face with my hair, and storming furiously to my room.


	6. Kiss and Death

**A/N: Chapter 6: In which old characters make a reappearance, relationships are formed, and much, much more... I just made my story sound awesome, didn't I? It's probably not that good. Oh well, review anyway.**

A few excruciating weeks passed. I say excruciating because those three weeks were the longest time I've ever spent without talking to my brother in some way, shape, or form. Then again, I reminded myself that he'd called my friend a Mudblood, and that was just sick and twisted. Therefore, I couldn't talk to him until she did. I couldn't forgive him until she did. That's why I was so surprised when he came rushing into the common room one morning in late October, beaming from ear to ear.

"Guess what!" he shouted, grabbing my arm and dragging me over to a deserted corner.

"Ouch!" I snapped, reclaiming possession of my appendage and examining it. "What did you do now? Ruin anyone else's lives lately?" My brother scuttled off a few steps.

"Back off!" He snapped back. His eyes were sparkling, though. I knew he had something exciting that he was just bursting to tell me. "But-"

"But what?" I asked warily, all too aware of his rapidly changing mood swings. Draco grinned widely, spreading his arms out in a self satisfied way.

"She forgives me!" he proclaimed. My eyes widened comically.

"That's great!" I said excitedly, throwing my arms around him. He drew back, though. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"There's something else," Draco told me, trying hard to keep his voice calm.

"Really?" I asked curiously. "What is it?" He motioned for me to come closer. I did so.

"She kissed me," he whispered with barely contained excitement. I clapped my hands over my mouth in an effort to keep from squealing out loud.

"Really?" I hissed excitedly when I'd calmed down enough to speak again. My brother nodded proudly. "Where?" He pointed to his cheek.

"I'm never washing it again," he said, half laughing. I wrinkled my nose, hoping he was joking. He smiled to show me he was. I shook my head at his immaturity, then laughed along with the lovable dolt.

-o-O-o-

The next morning, I woke up and felt tremendously happy. It made me disoriented for a moment. Why would I have cause to be so happy? Then I remembered. Draco and I were speaking again!

"Rosie?" Julie sat up in her bed, her hair a tangled mess. "Why are you up so early?"

"Cause she's trying to win the damn bet," Lily replied groggily from her own bed.

"What bet?" Julie asked curiously.

"Never mind," I said quickly. Lily flashed me an odd look that I ignored. Wouldn't it better to let Julie in on our bet? The answer to that was a definite no. There was no way that she'd _ever_ gamble on anyone's happiness. In fact, she'd make Jesse shut the whole thing down. There was no way that could happen. Ever. Well, not ever. Just until I won.

The three of us got up and got dressed without the bet coming up in conversation again. None of us noticed the absence of Sidro or my cousin until Charms. That's when Draco and I got called to the Headmaster's office.

"Sit down," he told us. We sat.

"What's going on?" Draco asked nervously. Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly at us over his half moon spectacles.

"I am aware of the fact that the pair of you could possibly know Cathryn Lestrange or Sidro Yaxley quite well?

"Cathryn was our cousin, sir," I told him, trying to appear less nervous then I really was.

"Some professors were out in the forest, and they found them."

"I wasn't aware they were missing, sir," Draco said steadily, his eyes never leaving the Headmaster's. I was a little less composed.

"Where are they?" I demanded, standing up. Okay, so a lot less composed. "Are they in the Hospital? Do we need to go see them?"

"Oh, dear child," Dumbledore sighed.

"What?" Draco asked quietly.

"The professors found their bodies."

*November 27th*

"Miss Malfoy, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore greeted us cordially. It had been about a week since Sidro and my cousin had been found dead. They were being treated as a murder case, which I found incredibly depressing. There were similar marks on each student's wrist. Both had large areas of blackened skin on their left wrists where the flesh had been completely burned away. All that was left was pure white bone.

Today's date was November 27th. It was the day of the funerals. Draco and I were expected to stand up in front of a bunch of people and say nice things about a dead cousin that we hadn't gotten along with since our toddlerhood. I didn't want to. But it wasn't exactly an option. See, the problem wasn't what I had to say. It was the fact that I actually had a cause to say it. Cathryn had always been so full of life. It was hard to imagine her being gone. But here Draco and I were, in Dumbledore's office once again, supposedly preparing ourselves to say goodbye to our least liked family member ever. How I would ever be able to do it was a mystery. We'd just have to see how it went.

-o-O-o-

Okay, so maybe it wasn't as hard as I'd expected. All I'd had to do was take one last look at my once alive and cruel cousin, and I burst into tears. Fred and George came over to me and tried to comfort me. It was clear that George was uncomfortable around tears, but Fred seemed unfazed. He held me and let me cry on his shoulder as the caskets were lowered into the ground. He stroked my hair and was much more subdued then I'd ever seen him. Draco was cool and composed, unlike me. He just sat there, staring into space. I was almost jealous of how nothing seemed to faze him at all. But enough about the funeral. They're both gone now. Finite. Over. Done with. Dead. And nothing I say or do will bring them back.

*December 13th*

I woke up seventeen days before Christmas with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. That Howler I'd received from my father had really put a damper on my Christmas spirit. My parents had made it abundantly clear that I would not be invited home for Christmas this year. I would have to stay at Hogwarts, unlike Draco. Mum and Dad were actually forcing him to come home. Of course they were. They loved him. I was actually sort of glad that they hadn't invited me home. Fred and George were staying too, which made life all the more fun. Honestly, they should join me for Christmas at home next year. Heaven knows that Mum and Dad could do with a bit of fun in their lives. We all could.

Anyway, Lily and Jesse were staying at Hogwarts also. As soon as they heard about my predicament, they immediately wrote home saying that they would be staying as well. James and Julie would be going home. In fact, they'd be leaving with Draco soon. As in, todayish. Okay, maybe in three days. But who's counting?

I got dressed and went to breakfast, not bothering to wait for my lazy friends. I was so out of it that I managed to end up over by the kitchens. Shrugging, I decided to just skip breakfast in the Great Hall and just eat here. The painting was a few meters down the corridor from where I was standing. I skipped over to it and tickled the pear. It squirmed and giggled, allowing me access. Technically, I wasn't supposed to know about the entrance. But lets face it, I knew a lot of things that I wasn't supposed to. My dear friend George had shown me the entrance in the first weekend of December. I shoved open the painting and was greeted by two of my favorite people. George was saying something to his twin that was making him blush spectacularly.

"Oh, are we embarrassing Fred?" I asked, stepping into the cozy room. "If we are, can I help?" George laughed, but Fred blushed all the way up to his ears. He then grabbed a sausage and busied himself with stuffing it in his mouth.

"'elp usel'" he told me. Or at least, that's what I think he said. I shook my head at the nasty sausage bits flying everywhere, but helped myself to a plate of cinnamon toast. Fred swallowed his sausage, walked over, and leaned against the counter next to me, stealing toast off of my plate to eat himself.

"Cut it out!" I scolded. He smiled rougishly at me and popped my food into his mouth, his dark blue eyes twinkling madly. We finished our breakfasts and went outside, simply trying to keep warm for the rest of the morning.


	7. Broken Heart for Christmas

**A/N: See, Beth? I told you I could update on time! So there! *dignified cough* Ahem. Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to ernesdo, for hounding me through Pms and reviews to update. I hope you like it.**

Aside from my birthday, Christmas is my favorite holiday. In fact, I may even like it better then my birthday. The twelve days before the twenty-fifth of December may have been some of the hardest days of my life. But I managed. My brother was leaving on Saturday, December seventeenth, ans would not be back until January first. I just so happened to know that Draco was going to our house in Arundel, West Sussex. I also happened to know that Megan lived in the same neighborhood.

Obtaining that information wasn't easy. I actually had to snatch an envelope from her sister Hannah in order to find out that they were moving to the house down the street from ours. It nearly cost me a study period to do it. McGonagall was willing to take away my free time after dinner and during Quidditch practice to make me serve detention. Luckily, Professor Snape talked her out of punishing me.

Lily knocked on the door of our dormitory. I opened it to find her standing there, already fully dressed and ready for anything.

"Come to breakfast," she urged me. "They leave in an hour and a half." There was no need for me to ask who 'they' were. Draco, Julie, and James were leaving on the ten o'clock train. I needed to be at breakfast so that I could say goodbye. This would be a particularly difficult Christmas for me to celebrate this year, because it would be the first that I would celebrate without Draco or Cathryn. They had always been there to irritate me, and I would almost miss that.

"Okay," I told her, smiling in what I hoped was an assuring manner. She looked skeptical, but shrugged and went over to the cupboard in her little area of the room. I got up and dressed while she rummaged for something. When she found whatever it was, she straightened up, took one look at my apparel, and laughed aloud. I glanced down at myself. There was nothing wrong with what I was wearing. My sweater was royal blue and was in good condition. My jeans weren't full of holes. Neither were my trainers. What could be wrong? "What?" I asked, bewildered.

"Oh, nothing," Lily giggled. "It's just that... you know that handsome Quidditch player you're always hanging out with? The Gryffindor?"

"Fred Weasley?"

"Yeah, him. You two are all matchy matchy today." Before I had a chance to get alarmed and go change, she grabbed my arm and dragged me to the Great Hall for breakfast. Was she trying to embarrass me? Knowing her like I do, she probably was.

We entered the Great Hall, managing to avoid any mishaps. Besides George's snickers, that is. He took a look at me, one at his twin, another at me, and started laughing. Then again, he's always laughing about something, so no one paid him any attention. I sat down next to Jesse. Lily sat on his other side.

"Lily's diabolical today," I whispered in Jesse's ear. He grinned and shook his head fondly.

"...And she freaked out when I told her!" Lily's voice penetrated my thoughts. Draco laughed loudly. Wonderful. She was already telling people about it. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Megan staring at my brother and Lily, a small frown on her face. That made me giggle, and then I joined in with the enthusiastic Quidditch talk.

-o-O-o-

It had been about seven hours. Julie was gone. James was gone. My brother was gone. Even Megan and all of her tiny friends had gone home. I was at Hogwarts alone with Jesse and Lily. Merlin help me get through this unscathed. I know that's probably impossible, but please!

The days flew by quickly. One day, I was outside for four hours having snowball fights and stuffing snow down George's shirt. The next, Jesse and I were taking a top secret mission to steal sugary snacks from the kitchens. Before I knew it, Christmas Eve had crept up on me. Lily and I were preparing for bed, casting forlorn looks at the empty bed that belonged to Julie, and the other that had previously belonged to Cathryn. I climbed into my own bed, crawling under the covers and laying on my back. Memories came rushing back to me from behind my closed eyelids. Draco and I, at age seven, having a mud fight. Playing cats with Cathryn at age five. Cathryn calling herself Katie-Cat, also at age five. Tears slipped unbidden down my cheeks, and I silently cried myself to sleep.

-o-O-o-

I think I slept through the night. I don't remember actually falling asleep, but I must have, because the next thing I knew, Lily was shaking me awake and wishing me a Happy Christmas. She pulled my covers to the floor, so I was forced to get out of bed and follow her downstairs to the "present pile." Lily and Jesse had dubbed it that a few days ago, because the presents kept accumulating. We dug into them with great enthusiasm.

When I had mostly finished, I sat back on my heels, observing my friends. Jesse had put a bow in his hair. It must have come from James, because I had one just like it. Lily spotted something in the lower branches of the tree. She pulled it out and handed it to me. It was a plain,, square envelope with my name written across the front in Fred's handwriting. I opened it carefully, not quite knowing what to expect. Inside was nothing but a silver locket. I took it out and examined it. On the front were the letters AFG. When I opened it, two pictures stared back at me. One was an action shot of Fred and I throwing snow at each other. It had probably been taken by George. The other was of the three of us, sitting a tree and grinning. One twin was behind me, the other next to me. They were identical, except for their eyes. The twin behind me had brown eyes, and the one next to me had blue eyes. It was just like my framed picture, except we were all much older.

"This fell out," Lily told me, handing me a small note that must have fallen out of the envelope when I opened it. I took it, turned it over, and read:

_Dear Rosie,_

_ I remembered. I woke up this morning, and remembered all of it. So I'm giving you this. It says _Eternity_ on the back, because I want you to remember that the three of us are friends forever. Always and forever, Rosie, remember that._

_ Happy Christmas._

_ Love, Fred_

I leaped up from the floor, clutching the note in my left hand.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked me, alarmed.

"Be back later," I told her over my shoulder as I sprinted out of the room. I had to find Fred.

I'd reached the Entrance Hall before I stopped running. A lone redheaded figure stood next to a window. He turned around and my heart skipped a beat. Fred Weasley stared back at me, his eyes haunted. His cheeks were hollow, and there were bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for days. There was no trace of his usual cheerfulness that followed him wherever he went.

"Rosie," he said flatly. His voice was hollow and defeated. What could have happened to my best friend to turn him into this poor, pathetic shell of a human being?

"Fred," I whispered. "What happened?" He just shook his head at me, turning back around and looking out the window. He was really scaring me now. Something was really wrong. I crossed the floor to his side, my heart pounding in my chest. _Please let him be okay,_ I prayed. _Please. _I touched his arm softly. He jumped back, recoiling from my touch. "Please tell me?" I begged, almost afraid to hear his answer.

"Fine!" he exploded. "You want to know what's wrong? I've been bloody in love with a girl since we were young, and she doesn't-" there his voice broke, and he leaned his head against the cold glass of the windowpane, his eyes shut.

"Doesn't what?" I asked, terrified to hear the answer. Whoever had broken his heart would have to suffer. I'd make sure of it.

"She doesn't like me that way, okay?" he yelled. "Now leave me alone!" I nodded in assent and slipped quietly from the Hall.

**Fred's POV**

I watched her walk away, her blonde hair hiding her face. She had no idea how she tortured me. I knew her better then she could ever imagine. Every single one of her facial expressions and emotions were as familiar to me as my own. How could she not notice how much I liked, perhaps even loved her? Even her little Slytherin friends had noticed, and I barely knew them at all.

George teased me about her the other day. I was daydreaming, and he asked me a question. I told him I loved Rose. He called me a fool. He told me that I was wasting my time on her, when there's so many other candidates who would be just as great. Alicia Spinnet really likes you, he said. I told him I didn't want her. He suggested Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell next. I shot them down. He got exasperated.

"What about Leona?" George suggested exhaustedly.

"Her _sister_?" I asked incredulously.

"Rose doesn't even know she exists."

"I'm not going to date her _sister! _I don't want Leona! I want Rose." The last sentence was said in a very small voice. Now George doesn't even want to be around me. He says he'll hang around with Lee until I get over my obsession. It's not an obsession. It's an infatuation. I just need a plan now. A truly spectacular plan that will involve Rose becoming my girl in the end. I think I'll ask her older sister for help.


	8. It's all kind of monotonous

**A/N: Hey guys, it's me! I'm hoping this can come out on time. If not... I'm really sorry. Dedicated to CM, because you reminded me of something the other day that I was trying hard to forget and made me want to smack you. You know who you are. Love you.**

What do you do when your best friend starts ignoring you? What do you say to them? And what do you do when he starts hanging about with girls, especially pretty ones? I really and truly don't know what I should do. Fred's my best friend, or at least he used to be. Then he started hanging about with a pretty blond girl. She's in his year, and in his house, so it's not exactly like I can compete with that. In fact, I know there's no way for me to compete. I don't even know her name.

On the cold, dreary Tuesday that signified the end of Christmas Holidays, Lily and I were sitting on the floor of our Common Room, playing a variation of Exploding Snap with Jesse. It was a lot like the card game, except we used Chocolate Frog cards and played much like the Muggle game Go Fish. So actually, it was nothing like Exploding Snap at all. Whoever won the round got to keep all of the cards in their hand. Lily and I took the game a lot less seriously then Jesse did. He took each of his losses as a personal affront to him, wheras Lily and I would laugh it off.

The door to the common room creaked loudly, and the three of us jumped, scattering cards everywhere. The sound echoed loudly throughout the deserted common room.

"Sorry," a familiar voice apologized. "I forgot how noisy it can be sometimes." Lily and I looked at each other excitedly.

"Julie!" we shouted, jumping up and running over to our friend. Juliet grinned, her brown eyes dancing.

"I missed you," she said, entering the common room and throwing her cat at Jesse gracefully. "Hey, Jess," she added, glancing over at where he was being attacked by a screeching lump of fur. He ripped Belle off of his shirtfront and asked,

"James back yet?" Julie opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a male voice.

"James is here," it announced pompously. That was when our dear friend James Lee poked his head around the doorframe. "Miss me?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"You look like a demented elf," another voice grumbled. James laughed giddily, then disappeared from sight. My heart leapt. Draco! "Rose!" my brother yelled. "Help me!" I looked out into the hallway, only to find Draco shoving James with all of his might. His pale face was red with exertion.

"What's going on?" I asked, unable to keep my grin from appearing on my face for very long.

"He's pushing me and I'm not moving," James stated bluntly, and quite unhelpfully.

"I can see that," I said, laughing. "But why?"

"Because I don't feel like moving at the present time."

"I see."

"Can you make the stupid oaf move?" Draco pleaded. I stifled a laugh as I took a closer look at the two of them. Draco was red faced and panting, all his struggles in vain. James, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself tremendously. One of his hands was propped against the doorframe, and he was casually rumpling his green tinted hair with the other. Wait a second... Green tinted hair? His dark brown hair was still hanging in curly waves about his face, but the ends had been dyed green. And not just any green. No, they were dyed neon green. Bright, obnoxious, blinding neon green that made me want to stab my eyes out rather then look at it.

"James," I gasped. "What on Earth did you do to your hair?" He ran his hand through it, obviously pleased with himself.

"Do you like it?" James asked. "My sister did it for me. She's a third year Gryffindor. The name's Jordyn."

"That's... nice," I told him, unable to find a suitable word for this situation. "You should go in and show Lily. I'm sure she'd love to see it. And Jesse, too." My friend nodded, obviously pleased with the idea. Draco heaved a sigh of relief as our rather vain friend strutted into the Common Room.

"Thank's for that," my brother muttered. "He was insisting on staying out in the corridor so he could wait for someone, and I didn't think I could stand having Meg- er, _someone_ come along and see his hair."

"I think I can understand that," I laughed, entering the common room and shutting the door behind me.

-o-O-o-

The next day, we were forced back to class. Nothing interesting or extrordinary happened. It was the next day that our lives all started to get much more interesting.

First, something happened in Charms. Megan got to class just before the bell rung, which was unusual enough in of itself. But that is not where the strangness left off. No, not at all. Draco also came in late, although he didn't come in before the bell. Instead, he was very, very late. Professor Flitwick made him go sit next to Megan, and they even talked a bit during class! Without arguing!

Later, I was sitting in the LIbrary, tallying up the bets so far for the Dregan bet thing. Megan sat down across the table from me.

"Hi, Megan," I said calmly, putting away my parchment. Had she seen it?

"Hi, Rose," Megan replied, a small smile playing about her features. "How was Christmas?" I thought back, reliving my horrid Christmas. No, I couldn't tell her the truth. She'd ask questions. I'd have to lie to her.

"It's was alright," I said vaguely. "How was yours?" She got a distant look in her eye and mumbled,

"Fine." Oh, yeah. Real convincing. Sounds like she had a _great _Christmas.

"Hi, Rosie! Hi, Abbott!" Lily'a cheerful voice shook me out of my musings.

"What's up, Lil?" I asked, grinning broadly.

"Jules needs you in the commons. Says it's an Emergency." Jules? Commons? What was up with my best friend? Oh well. I decided to play along.

"What's wrong?" I asked, faking concern.

"Dunno. She just told me that she needed to talk to you about something." Lily sounded worried, but it was an act. I acould see that she was fooling Megan, though.

"I'm on it," I told her, then slippe dout of the Library, stopping just outside the doors. Lily asked Megan about some third year girl named Leona Gryffin. I'd heard that name before. It was cropping up way too often in my life. That was when I decided to go run in the direction of Gryffindor Tower and try to find this Leona girl. I dashed down the hallway...and ran straight into a solid object.

"I'm so sorry," I gasped, picking myself up off the ground. The other person hadn't moved a bit.

"It's alright." The speaker had a soft, feminine voice, lilting and sweet. I looked up. The girl standing in front of me was a Gryffindor, and looked to be about thirteen or fourteen. Her long blond hair fell in a cascade of ringlets over her shoulders and down her back, and her gray eyes were distant, as if she was in another world entirely.

"Hi," I said, my voice quavering. "Would you happen to know a girl named Leona Gryffin?" The girl seemed almost amused at my question.

"I do indeed."

"Can you tell me where I might find her?" The Gryffindor's gaze was filled with gentle amusement, with a hint of what looked like it could be longing.

"I am Leona Gryffin."


	9. Please don't kill me

**A/N: I'M SO SORRY! *ducks to avoid flying fruit* Tales of Hogwarts will not be updated until at least December 1st, due to NaNoWriMo. Thanks for your patience!**


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